Japan with Masa Takayama

Wow. What a terrific episode. Bourdain has had some fantastic guest chef hosts in the past (Daniel Boulud, Eric Ripert, Andy Ricker, Marcus Samuelsson) but never has an entire episode been so completely dedicated to the life of one chef. Lyon, France was close but even during that episode, Bourdain ventured in to places that had nothing to do with Daniel's past.

Chef Masa Takayama's life story is quite interesting so it's no wonder this was a great episode. Mother, older brother, pastry chef daughter are all charming. Masa's mentor and ceramics craftsman makes a mean soba. The chef at Ginza Sushiko seemed super cool and plated up some visually stunning nigirizushi.

This episode was packed. No filler scenes of Bourdain wandering the streets talking to himself about life and certainly no segments dedicated to interviewing locals who can barely understand what Anthony is asking. Yup. Just too much to cover in less than an hour.

The cinematography is outstanding and only upstaged by the food. So much damn delicious food.

This may be my favorite episode.